|
RESPONSE TO KEITH TOLBERT'S PAPER ATTACKING THE UPCI BY J. L HALL |
|
I want to give my thanks to Keith Tolbert for inviting David Bernard and me to respond to his paper on the views of church history within the United Pentecostal Church. We have the unenviable task of criticizing the work of our host. Forgive us if we appear to be unthankful guests, but we are only trying to comply with your wish. I am concerned that a paper on the UPCI would be presented at a symposium on cults, occults, and world religions. The paper does not classify the UPCI as a cult, but on the contrary it states that in the UPCI "a Critical philosophy of History is wholly absent" (page 35), and it concludes that "the UPCI Speculative philosophy of history is thoroughly evangelical" (page 36). Is there a hidden agenda in this paper? Let me move into a criticism of the paper itself. First I would like to note that a bias against the UPCI is expressed through the use of harsh and misleading terms. For example, on page 3 the paper states that Foster "castigates the Assemblies of God for attempting to halt progress." The reference in Foster has no harsh criticism or rebuke given to the officials of the Assemblies of God. (In passing, it needs to be remembered that the Jesus Name believers were still a part of the Assemblies of God at this time.) Another example is found on page 18 where it is stated: "The UPCI has, knowingly or unknowingly, sanctioned a vicious infinite regressive enumeration when it introduced elements into the Latter Rain motif not listed in Joel's account" (emphasis mine). The word vicious is harsh and unnecessary and knowingly or unknowingly appears to question the motive of the UPCI. Then is it not unwarranted to imply "duplicity" by McClain on page 13 by a mild disclaimer? Moreover, is it not a serious breach of scholarship to question Bernard's "notion of justice"? Furthermore, the attitude is condescending and it almost reveals scorn for what is judged to be inadequate scholarship on the part of McClain (page 4). One last point on this matter: the paper reveals only at most a progressive sophistication in the UPCI, but the concluding sentence in the paper alleges that the UPCI has "created a complex mythology to give the allusion of an 'apostolic' succession." This concluding remark not only conflicts with the evidence in the paper but also appears to be a subjective judgment of the UPCI. There are several details that present problems. First the paper errs when it assumes that Marvin Arnold's book reflects the UPCI's presentation of history. In 1984 at the Harvard Symposium, the author was informed that the UPCI rejected Arnold's manuscript because of its faulty scholarship. After Arnold left the UPCI, the book was published by Apostolic Publishing House in Memphis. It is not enough to say that Arnold held these views when he was a minister in the UPCI, for his work was rejected. Our bookstore does not sell the book. Since Arnold's work should not be cited in a paper on the UPCI, we ask that it be deleted. A second source should also be eliminated from this paper. Royal Meeker has never been a member of the UPCI as a minister or layman. His tract was a private matter outside the UPCI. Then the work of U. A. Massey was rejected by the UPCI and it was privately printed. We do not reject Massey, nor was he forbidden to teach his restorational views in the Bible college, but we are stating that his work does not reflect the position of the UPCI. One other note in this area: Lura Frances Duprau's Babylon: Origin of
Religions was not published by the UPCI. Then this paper uses not only
questionable sources but it often misreads, misinterprets, and
misrepresents its referenced sources. We will look at a few examples. On
page 4, the paper refers to Ewart's use of Isaiah 28:20: "For the
bed is shorter than that a man can stretch himself on it: and the
covering narrower than that he can wrap himself in it." Ewart wrote
that after he received the Holy Ghost he returned to his pastorate of a
Baptist church, but he was uncomfortable. He said that the Spirit
directed his attention to Isaiah 28:20 and read it. He said that the
verse described his situation: "This was precisely my position. I
was uncomfortable, and was very relieved when asked to resign.
"Since that time, the Lord has shown me that the above passage
describes every creed formed and every system of theology invented since
the days of Constantine, when the 'faith which was once delivered unto
the saints' was lost. All creeds and man-made theologies have proved
deficient and unsuited to meet the needs that they were formed to
solve." The author of the paper makes more of this than did Ewart,
for Ewart did not discover "an extremely important historical
truth" but a spiritual principle that would apply to creeds and
man-made theologies--which he explained. Moreover, the paper falsely
states that "clearly, Ewart believed that the doctrine of the
Trinity originated sometimes after Constantine 'took over' the
church." On the referenced page in Ewart, there is no discussion of
the Trinity; in fact the entire section discusses the Holy Ghost
experience in early church history. Then the statement that "Ewart
also recognized Tertullian's writings as scripturally authoritive"
is completely false (emphasis mine). I challenge the author to find
where Ewart ascribed to Tertullian's or any other non-biblical writings
scriptural authority. This is what Ewart wrote about Tertullian on the
cited pages: "Tertullian carries us over into the middle of the
second century with his writings concerning the spiritual gifts. He was At best the paper is guilty of careless scholarship On page 4, the paper again reveals a lack of attention to its source. It states: "We must expose the fact that documentation supporting McClain's view is conspicuously absent" (emphasis mine).In truth, McClain documented his view with four references: Bible Encyclopedia, page 392; Neander's History of the Christian Religion and Church, Williston Walker's A History of the Christian Church, pages 57-58, and Rowe's History of the Christian People, page 74. It appears that this paper is conspicuously flawed by a lack of fidelity to its sources. Perhaps the paper's most serious misreading and misrepresentation is found on page 11. The paper quotes a statement by Ewart: "The theology of both the early church and the present day church was inseparably linked with the experience of the recipients. As the early church, we of the present day church believe that 'God is One."' The paper misinterprets this statement to be "one of the clearest statements defending extra-biblical revelation in UPCI literature." Note that Ewart does not say that the experience leads to "Oneness theology," but he states that doctrine are inseparably linked and gives one example in the quoted material--that God is one. There is not the slightest hint of extra-biblical revelation in this passage to the unbiased reader. Ewart and all Oneness Pentecostals base their doctrine on the Bible, not on experience. Moreover, there is no defense of extra-biblical revelation in Oneness literature. If this is the "clearest statement defending extra-biblical revelation," then it is obvious that there are none in the UPCI. In 1984, the author was told that the UPCI rejects all extra-biblical revelation and our literature reflects this position. The UPCI has only one Book, the Bible, that is recognized as divine authority. The Preamble of the Articles of Faith states: "The Bible is the only God-given authority which men possesses; therefore, all doctrine, faith, hope, and all instructions for the church must be based upon and harmonized with the Bible." The literature and history of the UPCI reflect this truth. We have no other inspired writings or prophetic insights, not even the extra-biblical creeds of the fourth and fifth centuries. Why, then, does the author continue to contrive extra-biblical revelation to the UPCI? The author should also be corrected on his statement that the Oneness conception of the Godhead is traced to "Frank J. Ewart's Acts 2:38 sermon delivered in Belvedere, California, 15, April, 1914" (page 23). He again misreads his source, and in the footnote he reveals his bias attitude: "It is both interesting and suspicious that the UPCI has edited this reference out of their most recent edition of Ewart's Phenomenon of Pentecost." First, Ewart's understanding of the Oneness of God began at a camp meeting in 1913 when a minister preached that the apostles always baptized in the name of Jesus Christ and not in the traditional formula (Ewart-original, P. 76; revised, p. 108). It should be noted that on April 15, 1914, Ewart preached on Acts 2:38, not on the Godhead. There is no reference to the oneness of God at this event. It should also be noted that no contemporary or later Oneness leader credits Ewart as the founder of the Oneness concept of the Godhead. Moreover, the UPCI does not recognize Ewart or any other person as the founder of the movement. The paper also misrepresents Chalfant on page 30, and this also reveals a bias and an almost arrogant attitude by the author. He claims that Chalfant, "for no historically founded reason attributes selective accuracy to the writings of Irenaeus." The author is correct that Chalfant accepts Irenaeus' account of Polycarp's visit to Rome and that Chalfant questions Irenaeus' claim to be a disciple of Polycarp, but Chalfant gives historical reasons: there is no contemporary confirming evidence, including that of Polycarp, and that Irenaeus taught a different doctrine from that taught by Polycarp. The paper may disagree with Chalfant, but it cannot say that Chalfant gave no historical reasons. Moreover, the paper goes beyond Chalfant's discussion; Chalfant does not "contend that this account is historically inaccurate." He questions it, but he admits that it may be true: "If it is true...." This paper also incorrectly criticizes Chalfant for not mentioning Harnack's conclusions concerning a late date for the Logos doctrine (page 33). It should be noted that the reference in Chalfant does not mention the Logos doctrine. Chalfant does use Hamack as a historical source since Hamack is known as "the greatest expert on the early church Fathers in his generation" (Tony Lane, Harper's Concise Book of Christian Faith, p. 174), but he does not subscribe to Hamack's liberal theology or to his method of historical criticism. I found no place where Harnack's theology of the Bible is reflected in UPCI literature. On page 36, the paper again misrepresents its source. It states: (Although they [UPCI] would assert that Oneness Pentecostals are 'members only."') The source for this remark is the UPCI Articles of Faith, page 7, on which appears the section "Fundamental Doctrine," which reads as follows: "The basic and fundamental doctrine of this organization shall
be the Bible standard of full salvation, which is repentance, baptism in
water by immersion in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ for the
remission of sins, and the baptism of the Holy Ghost with the initial
sign of speaking with tongues as We should note that the above UPCI statement does not refer to the church but to the UPCI organization; there is no reference to the oneness of God or to "members only," and there is no exclusive clause in this statement or any other in the UPCI official literature. The UPCI believes that a person does not have to understand the Godhead to be saved, only that he believe in the absolute deity of Jesus Christ. On the other hand, some trinitarians would like to exclude Oneness believers from salvation, but where in the Bible does it demand that a person believe in the Trinity? It should be noted that many trinitarians approximate the belief of Oneness believers--that God has revealed Himself as Father in creation and as the Father of Jesus Christ, in His Son Jesus Christ, and in believers as the Holy Spirit. There are other examples of problems in the paper, but enough has been given to reveal that it fails to reflect good scholarship. Perhaps the author could correct the paper before it is presented again at a symposium. This response concludes that this paper exhibits a bias tone, reveals careless scholarship, and fails in its thesis statement: "That their [UPCI] apologetic motive unduly influences their objectivity to the extent of undermining their credibility and ultimately, their apologetic itself." If the hidden motive of this paper is to discredit the UPCI in the eyes of others by labeling it a cult it could achieve this goal only by someone ignoring the misrepresentations of the paper. One last remark. Although the author uses the term "Apostolic Succession" to include the doctrinal succession in addition to its usual meaning of an ecclesiastical succession of bishops, we do not accept this term as an adequate description of our view of history. The term is misleading to the average person. It also suggests that a succession of doctrine has occurred in history--that is, that one group passed the doctrine to a succeeding group, a position that we do not hold. The belief in the continuing presence of the apostolic experience in history does not demand a historical construction of a succession. It only requires enough evidence to reveal that Jesus Name baptism and the gift of the Holy Ghost did not cease with the Apostolic Age. This evidence has been documented in David Bernard's book, The New Birth, and to some extent in Chalfant's work, Ancient Champions of Oneness. It is also evident in the UPCI. Thank you for surveying the various views of history in the UPCI. Admittedly, we have only begun to think our way toward a historical perception that is consistent with the belief in the oneness of God the practice of water baptism in the name of Jesus Christ, and the gift of the Holy Ghost. |